This Is Us

Meet Bex

I am a peer researcher for the new young people’s project called Power Up. I will be collecting research on young people’s opinions and ideas about the current state of mental health support in Cardiff and the Vale and what sort of service we could co produce with young people in the future. I have my own struggles with my mental health, and I like that my job will lead to positive change in individuals’ lives and hopefully influence policy changes. I have lots of hobbies and interests but if I am not in work I am probably training for athletics. I am sprinter and I train 5 times a week and compete regularly. I also like to read, play video games, colour, watch TV and YouTube, listen to music, and eat food! “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This reminds me to focus on the present and not look too far ahead about things especially if they haven’t even happened yet.

Meet Ellis

Hi, my name is Ellis, I am a Families Practitioner working in the Families team in Caerphilly. I have to say that I am very lucky to have found a job in such an amazing place. The work that everyone does at Platfform is inspiring and I feel privileged to be a part of it! The thing that I enjoy most about my job is supporting Young People on their own journeys to being the best versions of themselves.

One thing you need to know about me is that I love being active, whether that’s going to the gym, taking my dog for a walk, or playing rugby for my local club. Being active is key for my own mental wellbeing and without it I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I do love exploring new places as well. I would say that my favourite piece of advice that has helped me with my wellbeing is that you aren’t alone. Although it feels like you are alone there will always be a friend of family member who cares about you and is willing to listen and help you!

Meet Kate

Hi, I’m Kate and I’m a training officer. My job enables me to facilitate Well-Being groups in a variety of settings all over South Wales. It’s a privilege to work alongside Young people, to have a part in creating safe spaces where everyone is supported to discuss mental health and well-being, which helps to break the stigma attached to it. I love how creative my role is. I have been able to co-create some interesting projects with young people through Platfform and I have witnessed some really positive outcomes. I believe that education around mental health is incredibly important to the evolution of the support systems that we currently have.

My advice for better mental health would be this. Life can be a difficult journey, it’s unpredictable at the best of times, when we have certain expectations it can leave us feeling disappointed. Accepting that change is the only constant, is a great place to start. With this knowledge, it will help if you can be kind and patient with yourself, as you navigate through the different situations and stage of your growth. You are never alone, always seek help and support if you feel you need it. It’s ok to make mistakes, you’re human, you’re perfectly imperfect, try believing in yourself, you never know where it will take you.

Meet Jasmine

Hi! My name's Jasmine and I'm a Young person's coach. I love working at Platfform and there is a lot I enjoy about my job...but if I had to pick just one it would be working 121 with the young people and seeing them grow as they become more confident, happier and learn how to manage their own well-being and mental health. My favourite hobbies include taking naps and eating lots of sushi or pizza of course! I do love to get creative through photography, content creating, scrapbooking, or writing poetry. At times, I love an adventure such as, exploring another area , zip wiring or walking with llamas! My own well-being improved when I found writers like Jay Shetty and Vex King. Learning about manifestation, affirmations, and self-love. One of my favourite quotes would be 'Make someone smile every day, but never forget you're someone too.

Meet Amy

I am a wellbeing family case worker for the Caerphilly team of Platfform. I have only been in this role since December 2021, so although it is still quite new to me, I am really enjoying the new challenge. The variety of the role and the satisfaction in getting to meet tons of new people and help with their wellbeing needs is the best. When I am not in work, I am either running around after my two kids (who never get tired) or enjoy all the usual, such as spending time with friends, and family, eating cake and putting the world to rights. I love keeping active, be it a hike up a mountain, a wander along the coastal path or slogging it out at a Cross-fit session. I also have a passion for travel, trying to tick off as many countries as I can. Regarding my own well-being, keeping active, getting outside, and talking, I feel are imperative to keeping me in a positive frame of mind. I also try to look at life with a 'every cloud has a silver lining' attitude.

Meet Adam

I am a young person's coach; my role is to support young people 121 and in groups around their wellbeing and empower them to make changes that will have a positive impact with their own mental health. I love the fact that I get to meet so many great people from all walks of life, working with them and watching them create the change that they need to help improve their own wellbeing and lives. My favourite hobby is spending quality time with my parrot Ja. I am also extremely passionate around LGBTQIA+ rights, so in my spare time I do like to support the community, volunteer for a couple of the different Pride events, and interesting fact I was on the PincList (top 40 most influential LGBTQIA+ people in Wales) developed by Pride Cymru and WalesOnline for my activism and campaigning work for equality and human rights. Today might be a struggle, but tomorrow is a new day, face it head on with a smile 🙂

Meet Evee

I am the Training Officer for the Power Up Project, which means that I work with young people aged 10-25 South Wales. I love that when working with young people, you need to be creative and dynamic. There is a lot going on, a lot changing at that time of human life, so we have to adapt and change along with it. It can be challenging, but mostly really fun. I am also pretty lucky to be part of a creative and positive team – I am able to take some chances with my creative side, and I can do so with the full support from the team, and with the enthusiasm of the young people we work with at my back. Altogether, I love that our work is always focussed on new opportunities, is full of energy and radiates a healthy positivity. I guess I would have to say art and comics! I love to draw and it can really help my emotional wellbeing to express some of my feelings on paper, as well as just drawing for the meditative aspect of it. I am also a huge nerd, used to attend anime and comic-conventions every year prior to COVID-19 and Japanese manga and anime was my main pathway to drawing. But I find art and creativity of all kinds amazing and calming, and have on occasion also happily spent several days of a holiday just visiting art galleries and museums to admire art and culture of the past and present. There is something wondrous about seeing the beautiful works people can create from their imagination. I am a big believer in Mindfulness – it has helped me immeasurably throughout my life and I think a lot of what I gain from it is what also makes up the serenity prayer. I wish for the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference!

Meet Natalie

I’m Natalie and I’m the Service Manager for the Power Up project in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. I love being able to lead such an exciting an innovative new project. Working with children and young people and listening to all their amazing ideas for mental health system change is such a privilege! It’s great to see young people take the lead and become activists for social change. I also love connecting with lots of other services in the region and finding ways to join up our services and collaborate on new projects.I am very imaginative and love writing and reading. In my teenage years I wanted to be an actress and starred in a couple of TV adverts – including one with David Beckham! Seeing that as the peak of my acting career, I no longer act but advocate for the use of drama as a form of expression and therapy. A quote that has stuck with me since my childhood is ‘This too shall pass’. When we are anxious or low, it can seem as though we will always feel that way – this isn’t the case. We must be optimistic that better days will come!

Meet Lynne

My name is Lynne Jones and I am the coach for the Platfform for families. I support parents and siblings from families where there is a child/children facing mental health challenges. The service covers Cardiff and the Vale and promotes confidence, self-awareness and self-care as well as a chance to share experiences and develop a network of peer support. I love to see both adults and children stepping into their own personal growth and exploring new ways to be as a person as well as in their role as a parent or sibling; ultimately being the best that they can be in their own lives. I really enjoy my own family time and love to walk on the beach with our two dogs when we can! My own life has not been without its own struggles and one thing that has helped me is this quote “and this too will pass” a good reminder that everything is transient. It helps me know the hard times will not last forever as well as helping me make the most of the fun times too!

Meet Sinead

I am a Relief Worker and Peer Mentor at Platfform. I help run the state of mind program and social groups for 13-16 year olds and I am also there to offer any support that I can. I love meeting everyone and helping individuals with their wellbeing. My favourite hobby is drawing, arts and crafts, baking and jumping on my trampoline. I love unicorns and bright colours. Favourite quote: Be a unicorn. Embrace your uniqueness, stay true to you, believe in miracles, sparkle from within and enjoy the journey.

Meet Nicole

I am the Young Person’s Trainer for South Wales. I develop and deliver training across all our projects. Empowering young people along the way to support each other to improve their mental health and wellbeing. The best part about my job is meeting and engaging with young people all over South Wales. Watching the success stories of those who go through our programmes and find their 'voice', it really inspires me. Outside of Platfform, I enjoy walking my dog Mervyn, spending time with my numerous family members, and binge-watching the next best series on Netflix. One of my favourite quotes that has helped me with my own wellbeing is ‘Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck’.

Meet Luke

I'm Luke and I am a Young People's Trainer for Gwent. I love my job because I help young people through the difficult times that we all go through from time to time, including me. I am here to help and support you to BElieve in YOUrself! I love sports! In particular rugby, but it could be any sport. I could be playing, watching, coaching or even volunteering. It's something about being physically active that gives me an amazing buzz. Put your own mask on first. Putting and caring for yourself first is the best thing you can do, in order to help others. It isn't selfish, it's a priority.

Meet Sian P

I am Sian and I work alongside Young People to enable them to reach their personal goals. I enjoy working with unique individuals and learning something new every day. My favourite hobbies are anything Beach related, especially paddle boarding & going on adventures with my dogs. A favourite quote is, "make sure you're a priority once in a while. It's not selfish. It's necessary."

Meet Siobhan

I’m Siobhan and my role at Platfform is Head of Service for Children and Young People and I LOVE my job. My job involves supporting the team to achieve their goals and creating a good working environment where everyone feels accepted but is also challenged to grow. I’ve always felt passionately that work should be a place we like to be and something that brings out the best in us and is also FUN! I spend time in meetings that also feed into the future of our services and listen to what the team and young people are saying about what matters when it comes to young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Then I put together action plans and check how things are going. What I love about my job the most is that it’s varied and that I get to listen and learn new things daily. I have learnt so much working at Platfform and I really appreciate that. My favourite hobby at the moment is listening to TedTalks and Youtube videos, there’s so much information out there at a click of a button! My favourite quote is the following by Helen Keller. "When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another." I love this quote because when we do the best we can (which will never be perfect by the way!), great things happen but we don’t always realise this! it’s tempting to think we can’t make a big difference in this world, but the small things we do every day, especially the things we do for others can make HUGE miracles happen and the best part is we may never know! To me this quote is full of possibilities and I like to think there are lots of miracles out in the world because of people who just did their best and didn’t do it for the glory!

Meet Sian

I do the administration for the Young People’s Team. I make sure that your details are recorded on the right database for the coaches to pick up and make contact. I also make sure the team is kept up to date with any important or useful information that comes to the Young Person’s inbox. I like the people I work with and I like working behind the scenes. Making sure that the information that the coaches need is in place, so they can concentrate on making a difference in a young person’s life. I’m really enjoying going out walking and exploring, whenever I can. I love discovering new places I didn’t know existed until the moment I’m right there, it’s like finding treasure. It’s a mini adventure every time I step out my front door. ‘Baby steps’ or break it down. Don’t look at the problem as a whole or you’ll terrify yourself into inaction. Break it down into manageable parts and tackle them one at a time. Oh! And ‘dance like nobody's watching!’

Meet Sarah

I’m Sarah and I am the Project Manager of Platfform 4YP Swansea Bay project I love my job as I get to talk to young people every day and to walk alongside you as you grow in confidence and become your best self! Oh, and I also get to meet alpacas! I am a secret TikTok legend and have over 1 million views! And I really love walking on the beach with my family and our dog Rubi. The best piece of advice that I have been given is ‘be patient with yourself, nothing in nature blooms all year so take a breath, slow down and it will pass.’ This is super good for me as I live life at 100 miles an hour and sometimes this can be hard to cope with!

Meet Lucy

I am Lucy and I am a 4YP Comms Officer for Platfform4YP. I create content for the Platfform4yp website and social media. My favourite part about my job is that I can be creative with content as well as helping other young people. I love sports. At the moment I am a climber and a surfer. I am also a big fan of film, television and editing as in the future I want to be a part of the film industry. My best piece of advice would be just to enjoy what you do in both your jobs and your personal lives as we only live once.